Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Yemen Peace Talks in Kuwait Extended for another Week

Cairo-Negotiations on a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Yemen, currently underway in Kuwait, will be extended for another week.

Well-informed sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed would resume the negotiations in light of the support received by Yemen’s legislative government at the Arab Summit which was held in Nouakchott on Monday.

The sources added that international and Arab efforts were focused on reaching a political agreement that would end the war in Yemen, based on the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216 by Houthi rebels and the ousted president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The sources also said that a peaceful agreement could only be reached when the rebels hand over their arms to the legitimate state and withdraw from occupied Yemeni cities.

Meanwhile, the U.N. special envoy returned to Kuwait on Wednesday to resume the talks, which were unofficially halted due to the holding of the Arab summit in the Mauritanian capital.

Other Yemeni sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that a meeting was held between Ould Cheikh Ahmed and Yemeni President Abed Rabbuh Mansour Hadi on the sidelines of the Arab summit to discuss the extension of peace negotiations.

The U.N.-led talks to end the Yemeni conflict were launched in Kuwait on April 21. On July 20, the Kuwaiti authorities gave both the government and Houthis 15 days to settle the crisis before it would stop hosting the talks.